I love Torin St. James... I need his strength… But someone from his past wants me dead.

Raine Cooper is certain of two things: her love for Torin St. James and her destiny to be a powerful seeress. But when she starts having premonitions, they are unclear and disturbing. Worse, they involve Torin. With her mother gone, her father dying, and her best friend in Hel, she is not sure who to talk to.

But when the visions become more personal and she foresees her future with Torin threatened by someone from his past, Raine becomes desperate for answers. Just her luck two new students arrive at her school and they seem to have answers. When with them, her powers are enhanced and her visions become clear. There is only one problem: Torin forbids Raine to see the two girls.

I pushed the matter of the witch aside for the rest of the day. After school, Torin dropped me off at the back our shop.

“Text me when you’re done,” he said.

The back door of the store dinged when I pushed it open. Mirage was our family shop. We did custom framing, but we also sold mirrors. Lots of mirrors. Big. Small. Runed and unruned frames. People didn’t notice them or if they did, they just assumed they were part of the designs.

Mom had hired an assistant before she left. Hawk. An Immortal. If Dad knew about him, he’d hit the roof. He didn’t like Asgardians as he liked to call Immortals and Valkyries yet he was married to Mom, a Valkyrie, and I was an Immortal. The irony was lost on him.

Hawk didn’t seem to be around, but Jared was with the one person I didn’t want to see, his wife Celine. The bubbly blonde could drive any sane person crazy with her smothering.

“Raine,” Jared said, waving me over. “How’s school?”

“Busy. Hey, Celine.”

“Oh, you poor dear.” Her beefy arms looped around me in a hug. She came up only to my chin and I had my backpack looped over my shoulder, which made our hug awkward. She stepped back and gripped my hands. “How’s your mother doing?”

“Better. She’ll be home soon.” Mom had left six weeks ago, so we’d come up with a reason for her sudden disappearance. She was officially undergoing treatment at a private institution for nervous breakdown. Dad’s illness had taken a toll on her.

“How are you coping, dear? How is your father doing?”

“Dad’s doing much better and, uh…” I tried to wiggle my hand from the woman’s, but her grip tightened. “I’m fine too.”

“Oh, how brave you are. First your father’s plane crush then the cancer and now your mother, it’s too much for someone so young to bear.” Tears rushed to her eyes.

I begged Jared with my eyes to rescue me. I had to deal with her when Dad disappeared, then when she learned he was ill and now.

“I was just telling Jared we should visit your mother. She’s been so good to us. She’s at PMI, right?”

“No, she’s at a private hospital in Portland and only family is allowed.” I finally freed my hands. “I’ll let her know you were asking about her.”

“Oh, that’s nice. As for you, young lady,” she peered at me, “I want you to know you can come to the house any time, okay? If you need anything, anything at all, call us. Do you have Jared’s cell phone number?”

“Yes, she does.” Jared practically dragged her out of the store. He came back with a sheepish expression. He ran his hand through his thinning hair. “Sorry about that. Celine has a big heart, but sometimes she gets carried away. So what can I do for you?”

“Dad wants a copy of this month’s inventory and tax forms.”

He chuckled. “The person to talk to is Hawk. Come on. He’s in the office.”

Hawk got to his feet. He was a tall man with coppery complexion, straight black hair, and brown eyes that seemed to never miss a thing. He also loved black suits. “Ms. Lorraine, this is a nice surprise.”

“Dad sent me to get a few things, Mr. Hawk.”

“Hawk. Sit, please.” He indicated the chair across from his. Jared excused himself.

“How’s your father doing?” Hawk asked. He kept the pleasantries short and soon shifted to business. An hour later, he’d explained inventory while I tried to keep up.

“Why are you telling me all this?” I finally asked.

He studied me as though trying to figure me out. I stared right back. Most Immortals I’d met were centuries old, so I tried to figure out how old he was. He could pass for a fifty-something Native American man.

“One day you’ll inherit this place, Ms. Cooper, so you should know how things are run. If you like, you could come to the shop and I can show you.”

Mom never liked me working at the store before. She’d said something about my being clumsy because of a few broken mirrors. Now I knew it had something to do with her customers. She hadn’t wanted me around Immortals. Of course, she hadn’t known about the Norns’ agenda.

“Okay. Until Mom comes back.” She’d be surprised. In a good away, I hoped.

He nodded without cracking a smile. “Every day?”

“No.” I laughed. “I have school and homework and… a life. Let’s start with three days a week. If I can stomach all the business jargons and whatnots, then I’ll add a day. If not, then I can say adios and convince myself I tried.” No, I wasn’t going to quit. I was broke. Mom had forgotten to put more money on my debit card before she left. “I get paid, right?”

“Of course. Ten dollars an hour,” he said.

Sweet. “When do I start?”

“Tomorrow. I can show you what you’ll be doing now.”

“Deal. And please call me Raine.” I leaned forward and offered him my hand, feeling more grownup than I’d felt an hour ago. I reached down for my backpack and got up. He stood too. I put the folder with the tax forms and inventory in my backpack, then left the office.

My eyes met with Andris’.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EDNAH WALTERS grew up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and dreaming of one day writing her own stories. She is a stay-at-home mother of five humans and two American short-hair cats (one of which has ADHD) and a husband. When she is not writing, she’s at the gym doing Zumba or doing things with her family, reading, traveling or online chatting with fans.

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released by Pill Hill Press in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, was released March 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN. Visit her at www.ednahwalters.com.

Ednah also writes YA paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. IMMORTALS is book 2. She just released book 3, GRIMNIRS December 2013. Read more about this series and the world she's created here www.runestheseries.com.

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published five more books in this series. She's presently working on book seven. You can visit her online at or www.ebwalters.com.